


Paradigm Shift

by Quillaninc, randi2204



Category: Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Voltron: Vehicle Voltron
Genre: M/M, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-04
Updated: 2010-08-04
Packaged: 2017-10-10 22:49:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/105254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quillaninc/pseuds/Quillaninc, https://archiveofourown.org/users/randi2204/pseuds/randi2204
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set nearly immediately post "Fleet of Doom".  Jeff is trying to enjoy a relaxing shower, but then his solitude is interrupted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paradigm Shift

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written in 2004 for Ex Machina, a Voltron yaoi fanzine published by Spubba.

Disclaimer: WEP owns Voltron in all its incarnations.

 

Paradigm Shift

 

Jeff sighed in blissful relief and closed his eyes, letting the hot water beat down on him.  It had been a long, harrowing day, and he didn’t care about conserving water at all at this point.  He deserved a hot shower, and he was going to take advantage of the empty locker room to luxuriate in it.

 

Gingerly, he leaned back against the cool tiles of the shower wall, and the water struck his chest with such force and heat that it made the skin sting and prickle.  He smiled slightly, imagining—hoping!—that he’d be quite red by the time he was ready to haul himself out and off to bed.  Slowly, the ceramic behind him warmed up to his body temperature, and he was able to relax a bit more.

 

But the tension from the day’s events still sung through him, and he raised a hand to knead the stiff muscles of his neck and shoulder.  He was sure that his day had been nothing compared to Keith’s, though.  _Having to travel to the Netherworld to rescue the princess, and return, only to fight a battle against 5 robeasts and one mega-robeast, not to mention thinking that WE had been pounded into space-dust… It’s a wonder Coran didn’t keel over from a heart attack, too…_ He shook his head.  _Stop borrowing trouble,_ he ordered himself sternly._  Everyone came through okay, only minor little scrapes.  There’s no need to dwell on what _could_ have happened…_

 

The com system echoed distantly in the locker room, asking for technicians to report to Commander Hawkins.  Jeff noticed it only enough to think, _Must be to have them repair the long-range radio_, then turned around so the water could pound on his back for a while and sighed once more as the stiffness in his back and neck started to ease.

 

A sense of disappointment struck him as the sounds of someone entering the locker room reached his ears.  He didn’t know who it was, and at the moment he didn’t care.  All he knew was that the other person was disturbing his solitude.

 

Tucked as he was under the last showerhead in the line, partially blocked from sight by the beginnings of a partition, he heard rather than saw his intruder. 

 

Echoes of someone undressing accompanied by a nearly tuneless whistle mingled with the splash of Jeff’s shower, the only sounds in the room.

 

Then a naked, dark haired lad slipped around the partition.  “Hey.  Mind if I join you there, Cap’n?” a soft, Irish brogue asked.

 

Startled, Jeff straightened away from the wall at the sound of the voice.  He’d hoped that whoever it was would have chosen one of the open spots closer to the door.  For just an instant, it was in him to say “Yes, I mind!” as emphatically as he could.  But the moment passed, and he gave a nod at the neighbouring showerhead.  “Not at all, Shannon.  Go ahead.”

 

Shannon grinned at him and turned on the spray.  “Thanks!”

 

Immediately, Jeff closed his eyes and tried to regain that sense of peace that he’d felt before the interruption.  The water still pounded hotly on him, but his muscles were still too tight for true comfort.  He braced his hands on the wall and bent his head, trying to stretch out his neck muscles.

 

“You okay there, Jeff?”

 

“Yeah, just a little stiff,” Jeff replied without looking up.

 

“That’s no good, Cap’n.  Say, let me give you a hand there, hmm?” 

 

Before Jeff could object, soap-slicked hands eased over his shoulders.  He let out a tiny groan as surprisingly gentle fingers found those all-too-persistent knots in his flesh and began to ease them away under the heat of the shower.

 

“That better?”

 

He relaxed into the soothing touch.  “Oh, yes,” he breathed.  Shannon’s hands were not quite as hot as the water, but still pleasantly warm, and they slid over his shoulders as if they knew just where those painfully taut areas were.

 

He straightened slightly, wanting those hands to continue massaging.  _Maybe,_ he thought hopefully, _maybe Shan will take the hint and do my back as well…_

 

Lightly calloused thumbs slid up his neck instead, easing his head forward and working out the stiffness.  He let out a low purr as Shannon’s hands then began working their way down his back, thumbs inching down his spine in circular motions as his fingers and palms massaged the broader planes.

 

“Oh, yes, right there…” Jeff couldn’t stop himself from groaning when Shannon found a particularly painful spot near the center of his back.

 

“Like that?”  Shannon’s voice purred close to his ear.  Then those sinfully delicious hands spread across his lower back, fingers splayed against his hips as they kneaded and slid sensuously over his slicked skin.

 

“Lean forward for me bit more there, Jeff,” Shannon suggested, and Jeff complied, bracing his forearms against the tiles and resting his head there as Shannon’s hands tugged his hips a little further from the wall, then continued their amazing work on his overstrained muscles.

 

“Like this?”

 

“Yeah,” Shannon replied, his voice nearly lost in the drone of the shower.  “That’s perfect.  Let’s see if I can…”

 

And then his fingers found an area that wasn’t so much tight as actually bruised.  When he pressed on it, the fading ache suddenly flared up into active pain and radiated up and down his spine in a flash.

 

Jeff cried out softly, gritting his teeth as Shannon’s hands immediately moved and tried to stroke him calm again.

 

“Easy, there.  Sorry, I didn’t know that was going to hurt like that…”  The hands returned to his hips.  “Here, now you’ve gone all wrong again…” Patiently, Shannon coaxed him back into the correct position.

 

Then one soapy hand ghosted over his rear.  His eyes flicked open with surprise as a thumb brushed between his thighs as Shannon’s hand skimmed his outer leg… and then the sensation was gone, to be replaced by a firm hand kneading just above his buttocks.

 

“You should get this done more regularly, Jeff… yer gonna have some problems come a few years if you don’t.”  While Shannon’s voice sounded quite reasonable—professional, even—there was something hidden in that soft burr that sent a shudder down Jeff’s spine.

Head dipped under the cascade of water, he didn’t see his teammate’s sensuous smirk.

 

“But… Oh…” His protest that he simply didn’t have the time to indulge himself in massages after every battle—no matter how good they felt—died on his lips.  Shannon was working on a spot that threatened to turn his legs to mush.  “Oh, that feels good…”

 

“Does it, now?”

 

Jeff swallowed.  “Yeah,” he managed.  That note was back in Shannon’s voice, and the tingles up and down his back were growing stronger, more insistent.  It was getting a little difficult to talk.

 

With careful deliberation, Shannon pressed a long, slick stroke up Jeff’s spine, then back down just a little to either side of his first motion, beginning a slow, deep cycle.  “How ’bout that then, Cap’n?”

 

Jeff’s response was a wordless moan.  He curled his hands into fists against the slick tile wall and arched his back up into the touch, seeking more contact.

 

Shannon’s skilful hands traced wider circles until they slid, firm and strong, right down Jeff’s sides.  Coming to rest on the other man’s hips, they proceeded to knead tiny circles in the muscled curve at the top of Jeff’s buttocks, still ostensibly providing a friendly massage.

 

Jeff’s eyes popped open, startled, when his teammate’s wiry young body pressed against his back, and Shannon’s soft, Gaelic accent murmured in his ear.  “An’ how about that, hmm?”

 

For a second, he just stood there, dumbfounded and completely frozen.  It wasn’t as if he’d never felt a body behind him before; with 11 other guys, some accidental contact was inevitable in the showers.

 

But it was never, _never_ anything like this…

 

In another moment, heat blossomed on his cheeks, more than the warmth of the water would account for.  His hands were clenched white-knuckled against the tile, and he held himself carefully, trying not to feel the contact any more than he could possibly help.

 

“Shannon…”  His voice cracked a bit in nervousness.  “Ahm… what are you…”

 

“Doing?” the other smirked back.  “Why, I woulda thought a smart guy like you would’ve figured that out.”

 

Had Shannon pressed the advantage there and then, Jeff had no doubt whatsoever about the firm, polite rebuff that hovered on the tip of his tongue.

 

And Shannon knew it.

 

Instead, he eased his thumbs up and over the lean line of Jeff’s hips, a gentle, conciliatory caress.  “It’s your call, Jeff,” Shannon offered softly.  “Say the word, any time, and I’ll stop. ’K?”

 

He still couldn’t move.  Somehow, feeling Shannon body to body like this… it electrified him.  Impulses were screaming along his nerves, telling him to pull away, to knock Shannon to the floor of the shower, to push back for more…

 

Instead, he did nothing, muscles quivering with the strain of staying so very still.

 

The only sound was the splash of the water for a long moment.

 

“Silence is consent, you know,” Shannon murmured, leaning forward even more to brush his lips against Jeff’s ear.

 

Jeff nodded once, just a swift, stiff bob of his head, as if the pain had returned to those muscles.  Forcing his tongue to move from where it clove to the roof of his mouth, he said, “I know.”

 

He did gasp, however, as Shannon’s hot mouth met with the taut strain of his shoulder, tongue now working against the renewed tension he found there.

 

From there, Shannon licked a languorous trail up the side of his neck to nibble properly at Jeff’s ear.  Unerring hands slid forward to span across his abdomen, the caress sliding as easily as the water flowing over their bodies.

 

Shannon’s hard, muscular body slid against his back, making him abruptly aware of another… hardness.

 

“Take it easy, Cap’n.  I’m not gonna be hurtin’ ya.” Shannon’s lilt caressed his insides as much as the Irish lad’s hands caressed the rest of him.

 

Then he was turned, his face cupped carefully, and firm lips met his.

 

A shock coursed through him as Shannon’s mouth took his, and he could not control his sudden intake of breath.  Shannon immediately took advantage of his open mouth to slip his tongue inside, deepening the kiss.

 

Lively and squirming, Shannon’s tongue skipped over his teeth, stroking his palate, and the feeling seemed to go straight to his knees, making them quiver.  He reached out, searching for something—anything—to help him keep his balance.  His hands fumbled against Shannon’s hips.

 

The fingers framing his face slipped away, down his neck, over his shoulders, the span of his back.  A gentle pressure pulled him closer to Shannon until their chests were touching, sliding against each other from the slickness of the water.

 

He could feel Shannon’s length prodding him gently, moving slightly with each quickened breath, rubbing against his pelvis.

 

“Tell me if you don’t want this, Jeff,” Shannon murmured against his lips.  The soft plea held just a note of vulnerability.  “But you’d better make it quick.”

 

Jeff said nothing.  His hands crept over Shannon’s prominent hipbones and splayed against his back, holding the other pilot in the position he surely wasn’t trying to get out of.

 

Shannon chuckled.  “There ya go again with that silent treatment again, Cap’n,” he teased.  “A fella might get the idea you don’t like him.”

 

Jeff only smiled faintly and leaned forward again.  This time, he initiated the kiss, his lips hesitant against Shannon’s as he was painfully aware of his inexperience.

 

Shannon smiled into the kiss, accepting Jeff’s silent capitulation with great satisfaction.  The source of Jeff’s reluctance was immediately clear to him, but didn’t lessen Shannon’s enjoyment of the tentative response.

 

While he welcomed Jeff’s slow exploration, he still held himself back.  No point in startling the man, to begin with, and it was not exactly a hardship to allow himself to be on the receiving end as the other man cautiously mimicked his earlier actions, a shy tongue licking along his lower lip before hesitantly questing further.

 

Carefully, he spread his palms over Jeff’s back, ghosting downwards in a comforting stroke.  He couldn’t quite suppress the low moan that escaped as he felt Jeff’s muscles shiver beneath his fingers.

 

Encouraged by the noise Shannon made, which he felt as a vibration in his own mouth more than heard, Jeff turned the kiss bolder, thrusting his tongue further into the other’s mouth and exploring, tasting, touching everything.

 

It was strange the way the kiss made _him_ feel; curiously hot, tingly in the pit of his stomach.  Slowly, he dragged one hand around to Shannon’s front again, and ran it, fingers spread wide, lightly up his chest.

 

Again, there was the sensation of a sound in his mouth, but he wasn’t sure if it was he or Shannon that was causing it, so lost was he in what the kiss was doing to him.

 

He didn’t even notice that Shannon was moving forward and guiding him backwards until he felt the chill of the tile against his buttocks.

 

Then the Irish pilot leaned into him and took control of the kiss.

 

Hunger flared, and Shannon couldn’t contain it any more.  While Jeff moaned softly and whimpered into his mouth, the dark-haired Irishman sought to learn, touch, discover as much of the other pilot as possible.

 

One hand slid down Jeff’s chest, feeling the masculine sensuality beneath satiny skin.  His palm scraped against a pebbled nub, and Jeff groaned, startled.

 

Shannon grinned wickedly to himself and dragged his mouth away from the other’s.  Jeff’s disappointment was quickly replaced with surprised awe as those hot lips closed over the sensitised flesh Shannon had found and licked deliciously. 

 

Jeff closed his eyes, arching into the suction on his chest, and moaned quietly.  His hands immediately threaded through Shannon’s short black hair, wanting little more than for that incredible sensation to continue.  He mouthed a protest as Shannon lifted his head, but he only transferred his attention to the other nipple.  Another jolt of sensation rocked him, and his fingers clenched slightly in reaction.

 

The tingling in his stomach grew stronger, and he slowly became aware that what he felt was arousal, that there was a part of him hardening and rising to bump against Shannon’s hip.

 

And that part of him wanted _more_.

 

He didn’t expect to receive it quite so soon though.  His sharp half gasp, half cry of surprise echoed off the tiles as a lightly calloused, skilful hand wrapped around his shaft and moved with languid, firm strokes.

 

“Oh!”

 

His hips rocked forward of their own accord, seeking that touch.  Shannon’s fingers caressed him knowingly, squeezing lightly, running up and over the head of his penis, learning him by touch.

 

Shannon kissed him again, and even Jeff, novice that he was, could feel an urgency that hadn’t been there before, the way his tongue demanded to be let in, the way it claimed his mouth and teased his own into responding.

 

His other hand ran down Jeff’s flank, exciting nerve endings all along the way, and sliding around until it cupped one cheek of his rear.

 

Jeff felt that the only thing he could do was hold on.  He unthreaded his hands from Shannon’s hair and instead gripped his shoulders hard.

 

Shannon slid away again, hot mouth lapping at the cascading water as he followed the trail downwards.  And then Jeff discovered a whole new level of ecstasy as that slick heat engulfed him.

 

He felt his eyes slip back as the tongue that had danced so playfully in his mouth now laved his length, dipping into the deliciously sensitive slit at the crown, and working each sensitive centimeter.  As clear as lightning, he felt the path that Shannon’s hands blazed down the outsides of his legs, and then up, along the sensitive skin of his thighs.  He rolled his head back and forth against the shower wall, his fingers sliding from their purchase on Shannon’s shoulders to curl against the tiles as he sought some kind of balance.

 

“Sh-Shannon…” was all he could get out.

 

He moaned loudly as Shannon chuckled, the vibration along his penis nearly maddeningly pleasurable.

 

That moan set off a hundred little sparks in Shannon, heating his blood even more than the spray of water that ran down his back. 

 

Bringing his tongue into play again, he licked and suckled his way to the head, then swirled it around that smooth, hot flesh, wringing another moan from Jeff’s lips.

 

Reluctantly, he pulled back a little.  “Turn ‘round for me there, would ya, Jeff?” he asked huskily.  He didn’t know if he could take much more of this.

 

For a moment, Jeff merely stood there, dazed, staring down at Shannon and unable to comprehend his words.

 

When he saw the state Jeff was in, he stood up immediately, and pressed close.  One hand brushed sodden black curls from Jeff’s neck, while the other very lightly caressed his shaft once more.  He nibbled at the exposed neck and throat, and both felt and heard the nearly mindless whimper that escaped Jeff’s lips.  “I need ya to turn ’round,” he whispered against Jeff’s throat, and with great strength of will, he pulled away.  “I’ll help you.”

 

Jeff nodded hesitantly, and shivered as Shannon’s hands left him, only to take up new positions, steering him once more.  Within moments, he found himself in the same position he’d taken while Shannon had massaged his back.

 

Again, those amazing hands eased their way down his back, the now familiar motion holding an unnamed apprehension at bay.  This time, when Shannon cupped his rear fully and kneaded slowly, murmuring, “This okay?” he could do nothing but nod.

 

Careful not to startle his partner, Shannon let his thumbs dip between Jeff’s buttocks, then ghost lower to fondle gently beneath.  Jeff shifted a little, but subsided, muscles trembling ever so slightly.

 

“Oh God, Jeff,” Shannon groaned into his captain’s neck, his caress becoming a little rougher with his urgency.  “You’re somethin’ else, y’know that?”

 

“Am… Am I?” Jeff asked, his breath coming fast.  He was hot, hotter even than the spray of the shower on his too-sensitive skin.  Shannon’s exhalation on the back of his neck sent a shudder he could not control through him, and he arched back into the other’s body, simply wanting, though he did not know what.

 

The press of Jeff’s body to his sparked an instant reaction, and Shannon thrust himself against Jeff’s hard thigh.  Although they hardly needed the words, Shannon gasped them anyway.  “Let me take you?”

 

Jeff hardly knew what he was agreeing to, but in some dim corner of his mind, he knew that if he said no, the pleasure would simply stop.  So he nodded, still grinding backwards, feeling Shannon oh-so-hot and hard against his leg.

 

For a moment, the hands were gone.  Then teasing fingers returned, caressed the inside of his thigh briefly, then slid upwards.  They slid easier than before, slicked by what felt like soap or shower gel or some such, pressing upwards against his entrance, teasing against the ring of muscle there, urging him to relax.  It felt strange but good, caressing an erogenous zone he’d never known he had.  With a low groan, he pushed down, seeking a firmer contact.

 

One finger worked its way inside him.

 

“Like that?” Shannon purred as he gently probed a little deeper.

 

Actually, he was about to say no, because it hurt, the base of Shannon’s finger stretching places that were unaccustomed to being stretched, when Shannon touched something inside him that sent sparks through his vision, that turned his muscles to water.  He could feel his penis bobbing as the pleasure seemed to go straight to those nerves.

 

“Or that?” Shannon now grinned, seeking out that spot again.

 

He threw his head back, panting harshly.  “Oh, God…”  He ground against Shannon’s hand, wanting more.  Now.

 

Control slipping a little, Shannon slid another finger in beside the first, working them carefully as he pressed open mouthed kisses across Jeff’s shoulders and ran a slow, soothing hand up and down over his hip.

 

Oh, yes!  But Jeff was beyond vocalizing that thought.  All he could do in response to being filled that little bit more was whine, his hips moving in time with Shannon’s fingers, his hands clenched into fists with such force that the skin was turning white.  “Please…”

 

Bitter disappointment shafted through him as those caressing fingers slid away, only to be replaced by a slick, blunt heat pressing against him.

 

This time the whimper was of pain, as he felt something _huge_ trying to gain entrance into his body.  He trembled and tensed, as if to try to escape, but Shannon folded an arm around him, holding him firmly in place.

 

“Don’t… move…” he heard Shannon gasp in his ear.  “Wait…”

 

Then Shannon’s other hand was on him, stroking him, teasing his shaft once more, and the pleasure nearly outweighed the hurt.

 

Gently, Shannon pressed forward, just a little at a time.  His eyes squeezed shut against the absolute bliss of Jeff’s tight heat; how he stopped himself from just ramming home, he would never know.

 

He’d been lucky, himself.  His own first lover had been quite experienced, and hell-bent on giving just as much as taking.  It was the least Shannon could do for this hunky specimen of a man he’d admired so much.

 

So he made sure he kept up a mind-numbing pleasuring of Jeff’s hardened cock until he was near enough to being seated fully.  Then he gently gripped Jeff’s lean hips and pulled backwards just that last little bit, feeling the heady intoxication of being completely inside the other man. 

 

Jeff reared up, eyes wide, mouth wide in an “o”, but no sound falling from his lips.  That last little movement brought Shannon into contact with that wondrous spot inside him, rubbing over it, and absolute bliss flooded him.  He wanted to move, to push himself back, anything to bring that feeling back, but Shannon’s hands on his hips stopped him before he moved more than a millimeter.  He whimpered, twisting.

 

“Easy there,” Shannon whispered into his ear, then pressed a kiss to shoulder.  “Just relax a bit… take time to get used to it, ’k?”

 

Jeff shook his head, not wanting to take time.  _Now.  More, now!_  “Please, Shannon…”

 

One of Shannon’s hands wandered away from his hip and wrapped around his shaft once more, setting up a slow, easy stroke.

 

The last thread in Shannon’s frayed tether snapped with Jeff’s deep groan.  Keeping pace with the hand firmly stroking Jeff’s shaft, he pulled out just enough to make his head spin, then thrust firmly home.

 

 His low moan rippled against Jeff’s skin at the pleasure of it all.

 

Truthfully, even with just that simple movement, he had almost blacked out with the intensity… but that didn’t stop him from doing it again… and again … and again.

 

Jeff’s head was awhirl with new feelings; the grip on his penis, the way Shannon filled him, the bursts of light that accompanied each thrust.  Every single muscle and sinew in his body drew tight with tension, and still the pleasure grew.  With a sharp, breathy cry, he climaxed, still pumping himself into Shannon’s hand.

 

The feel of Jeff’s release was more than just the beginning of the end for Shannon… it was the end.

 

A few desperate thrusts later, and he was lost in the incredible sensations of being in this man, coming in this man, of knowing it was he who’d made Jeff cry out in such mindless pleasure.

 

“Oh, God!” he groaned, feeling Jeff’s lax body melt against his own as he slumped against Jeff’s back, sated.  One arm was locked tight around the other man’s waist, the other propping them both up against the white tile.

 

For a short while, they both panted together, lost in the experience.

 

Then reality began to break through.

 

The water raining over them had turned tepid.  Shannon could feel Jeff’s muscles quivering, cool beneath his touch.  He began to get worried.

 

“Jeff?  You okay?”

 

As if from a long way away, Jeff heard Shannon’s voice and slowly opened his eyes.  Craning his neck to look over his shoulder, into Shannon’s concerned face and shadowed eyes, he quietly replied, “Yeah… I’m okay…”

 

Shannon took the opportunity to plant a soft kiss on him.  “Good.”

 

They remained that way under the cooling shower for a few moments.  Then Jeff began to feel uneasy.

 

“Ahm… Shannon?”

 

“Hmm?”  The Irish devil seemed more intent on sampling the taste of Jeff’s neck once more than he did on replying.

 

“Could you… er… move?  Please?”

 

Embarrassed, Shannon was suddenly aware of the fact that they were still oh-so-intimately locked together.  Even though part of him protested the move, he carefully slid himself from the other man with a mumbled apology.

 

“Thanks,” was all Jeff could offer.

 

Now that some kind of thought process was returning to his sluggish brain, he was able to sidestep quickly when Shannon reached out for him again.  Shannon caught himself before he stumbled, but only just barely, and raised a surprised gaze.

 

But Jeff didn’t meet his eyes.  “I… uh… I do feel more relaxed,” he said, almost as if in apology.

 

Shannon said nothing, just looked at him, face carefully bland, then reached out to turn off the spray.  The silence echoed thunderously.

 

In a way that seemed almost frightened even to himself, Jeff managed to pick up all of his shower kit and turned to flee back into the locker room proper.  Then he stopped, feeling a strange hollowness within him.

 

“Um, Shan…” he started, and his voice sounded strange to his own ears.  He paused, and glanced back over his shoulder, at the other pilot.  Shannon was looking at him, eyebrows quirked in mild curiosity.

 

Jeff felt his face heat quite suddenly.  “If… if it’s all right, maybe… _not_ in the shower next time?  I… I’m really not that much of… of an exhibitionist…”

 

He began to feel even more nervous as Shannon paused from toweling off his legs to offer him a broad, wicked-looking grin.  “Oh, sure thing, Cap’n.  Don’t worry.  I’ve got your back covered.”

 

With that, he quickly tugged on a faded pair of jeans, scooped up his possessions, and sauntered towards the door, only to pause briefly and shoot a smoky look over his shoulder at a gaping Jeff.  “See you same time tomorrow then?”

 

Slowly, Jeff recovered, and then quite suddenly he grinned with a mischievousness to rival Shannon’s own.  “That sounds good.  I’ll… uh… be looking forward to you… having my back.”

 

Shannon choked momentarily on the unexpectedness of Jeff’s comment, much to Jeff’s delight.  Recovering quickly, he stammered, “Er… right.  Gotchya.”  Then he disappeared.

 

A moment later, his laughter echoed back down the hallway.

 

Jeff chuckled quietly as he pulled on his own clothes.  _Well,_ he thought, _and hadn’t_ that _gone exactly as planned?_


End file.
